Opinion
Updated: February 23, 2021

Is AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq Emulating Lawal's Legacy? By Adebayo Ahmad

By AllNews Nigeria
February 23, 2021
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In the sphere of good governance, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (AA) has been identified as the late former Governor, Mohammed Alabi Lawal's carbon copy.

Juxtaposing their striking similarities in aspects of resource management of Kwara State, AbdulRazaq came up with a blueprint that carries along all and sundry about how the state is being governed and how resources are being used for every project -- this is just an attribute among the qualities of the late Nigerian naval officer.

Speaking on trailing the legacy of Lawal (Omo Laderin), AbdulRazaq has been up and doing by personally monitoring the quality of projects and aligning them with the money paid to contractors, e.g road constructions in the state. He further extends his hands of fellowship to many indigenes of towns that specialize in the field rather than giving contracts out to an outsider, people that are not from the town or state.

The aforementioned are parts of what elevated AA to be compared with Lawal - of blessed memory.

However, as air douses the fire of a candle, many allegations have been levelled against the sitting governor, ranging from the plan of hijacking the state party structures to sidelining about 85 percent of party members that fought side-by-side to record a landslide victory in the last general election.

Moving on, this among others has sprouted several unspoken thoughts in the minds of silent observers comparing the glory and losses of the late Rear Admiral to the incumbent Governor of the state. As they ask: ''ain't AA going in the way of Lawal?"

Recall that during the era of Lawal as the state No.1 citizen, initially, many talked about the undiluted progress he brought to the state not long before his people turned their backs against him.

For students of history, many people who have the opportunity to be in the state during the time could confirm how the image of the Ilorin-born politician was torn apart. For emphasis sake, let's pick it one after the other.

He challenged a powerful force (just like AA in a power tussle with some crème de la crème) to protect the state's treasure from being siphoned. That's a story for another day.

After he allegedly denied Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki (of blessed memory) access to Kwara State fund, an internal crisis ensued between the duo.

Meanwhile, as an enigmatic political calculator, Saraki skillfully carved out several means to change the narratives about the late governor, including his evergreen 'Up Kwara, Up Lawal' mantra which Kwarans adopted, representing the progress of the state. However, it denoted a new meaning that portrayed menace, facilitated by miscreants. As a corollary, it boiled down to the use of the media alongside the free mouths-errand of many loyalists of the late Baba Oloye of Ilorin - from how Lawal was orchestrating the removal of the Emir of Ilorin, to thugs in customs holding cutlasses inscribed with: "Up Lawal, Up Kwara". Eventually, it dawned upon people that the battle got beyond a single man among thousands against him. Wòn fè è nìnu ìlú ò n da orín (you were singing in a town you're rejected).